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Life is a Beautiful Ride - National Donate Life Month Statistics

Apr 15, 2019 | Barbara Broten Marketing Segment Manager | @brotenbarbara | Comments (5)

During April, National Donate Life Month, Mayo Clinic wants to help with the organ shortage by setting a goal to sign up 1,200 new organ donors. This year the theme for Donate Life Month is “life is a beautiful ride.” Donate Life America explains the theming, “Like the donation and transplantation journey, a bicycle serves as a symbol of progress, renewal and the moving circle of life.” With more than 110,000 Americans waiting for a lifesaving transplant Donate Life Month is a great time to bring awareness to organ donation and transplantation.

With so many organ donation and transplant statistics out there, we want to bring awareness to the following:2019-04-16 Donate Life

  • In 2018, more than 36,500 transplants brought renewed life to patients and their families and communities (from more than 10,700 deceased and 6,800 living donors).
  • More than 110,000 men, women, and children await lifesaving organ transplants in the U.S.
  • Nearly 60% of the people on the transplant waiting list are minorities.
  • Sadly, 8,000 people die each year because the organs they need are not donated in time.
  • While 95% of Americans are in favor of being a donor, only 58% are registered.
  • Another person is added to the nation’s organ transplant waiting list every 10 minutes.
  • 22 people die each day because the organ they need is not donated in time.
  • 80% of patients on the waiting list are waiting for a kidney. The average waiting time for a kidney from a deceased donor is 3 to 5 years.
  • 12% of patients waiting are in need of a liver.
  • One organ, eye, and tissue donor can save and heal more than 75 lives.

Data is from the Donate Life America Quarterly Registry Overview Report and the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) as of January 16, 2019.

As we encourage Americans to become aware of organ donation and transplantation we also celebrate those that have saved lives through the gift of donation. Because life is just simply that, a beautiful ride.

Here are a few ways you can directly make a difference:

  1. Register to become an organ donor.
  2. Help bridge the gap by sharing Donate Life content from Mayo Clinic on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

HELPFUL LINKS

4 Reactions

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Mentor
Ginger, Volunteer Mentor | @gingerw | Apr 16, 2019

Both my husband and I are donors. We have each been listed as donors for decades. Never did we expect that October 1, 2016 his life would be changed with a kidney transplant from a deceased donor! He is grateful each and every day for the gift of a second chance at life. One of our favorite sayings is "recycle yourself, donate your organs".
Ginger

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Mentor
Rosemary, Volunteer Mentor | @rosemarya | Apr 20, 2019

An annonymous organ donor gave me the gift of life thru organ donation. I treasure this gift every day. I am forever grateful for his decision to be a donor.
Rosemary - Liver and Kidney April 2009

REPLY
1 reply
Mentor
Teresa, Volunteer Mentor | @hopeful33250 | Apr 20, 2019
In reply to @rosemarya "An annonymous organ donor gave me the gift of life thru organ donation. I treasure this..." + (show)
@rosemarya

An annonymous organ donor gave me the gift of life thru organ donation. I treasure this gift every day. I am forever grateful for his decision to be a donor.
Rosemary - Liver and Kidney April 2009

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All of us who know you, @rosemarya, are also grateful for the gifts you received in 2009. It means that you can be with us and encouraging others!

REPLY
JK | @contentandwell | Apr 20, 2019

My donor was initially anonymous, my doctor wouldn't even tell me the gender. Then her parents sent me a letter, signed their names and mentioned hers. They disclosed quite a bit, and since then I have learned a lot more because her widower has been very vocal about her death - she should never have died, it was terrible mishandling by the hospital she went to. They are trying to pass a law in MA to make sure that nothing like this ever happens again.
It really troubles me so much to know the circumstances of her death, I get tears in my eyes whenever I think of her, and I pray that her father and widower find peace. Her mother passed away last summer. The parallels between her and my own daughter were remarkable -- same name, same age, both petite (5'3") and same profession. I don't how I would manage if something like this happened to my daughter, or my son. The incredible similarities just make it so much more painful.
JK

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1 reply
Mentor
Ginger, Volunteer Mentor | @gingerw | Apr 20, 2019
In reply to @contentandwell "My donor was initially anonymous, my doctor wouldn't even tell me the gender. Then her parents..." + (show)
@contentandwell

My donor was initially anonymous, my doctor wouldn't even tell me the gender. Then her parents sent me a letter, signed their names and mentioned hers. They disclosed quite a bit, and since then I have learned a lot more because her widower has been very vocal about her death - she should never have died, it was terrible mishandling by the hospital she went to. They are trying to pass a law in MA to make sure that nothing like this ever happens again.
It really troubles me so much to know the circumstances of her death, I get tears in my eyes whenever I think of her, and I pray that her father and widower find peace. Her mother passed away last summer. The parallels between her and my own daughter were remarkable -- same name, same age, both petite (5'3") and same profession. I don't how I would manage if something like this happened to my daughter, or my son. The incredible similarities just make it so much more painful.
JK

Jump to this post

@contentandwell Your donor's life was not in vain. Her passing may have been an unfortunate set of events, but it happened. You were given a second chance at life because of it. You now have an opportunity to make each day count, make a difference how best fits you to do, and honor her spirit and life. In my opinion, that is something few understand as deeply as an organ recipient.
Ginger

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